Homemade pepperoni pizza and flatbreads topped with a chipotle avocado-cucumber mash can be made from start-to-finish in 30 minutes. Perfect for times when you need a quick dinner, have a last minute party, especially football or Superbowl parties.
I’m not the world’s biggest football fan. But I am a big fan of going to the mall during the game.
And I’m nice enough to leave my husband with plenty of food to tide him over in my absence.
I made him a Snackadium and boy, did his eyes light up when he saw it. Nothing says love like a Snackadium. Let’s rephrase that, nothing eases the pain of credit card statements from those mall trips better than some cheesy, carby goodness in the shape of a football field.
I used meatless sausages on the fifty yard line, mini pepperoni on the other yard lines, and flatbread topped with avocado-cucumber are the turf. Or green bleachers depending on how your imagination works.
The whole thing comes together in thirty minutes so in case you have a last minute party or hungry brood to feed, it’s tasty, fast, and easy.
First, I made the flatbread base that’s later topped with avocado and cucumber. I used Pillsbury Big ‘N Flaky Crescent Rolls. I arranged the dough triangles together, end-to-end on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat to form one large continuous rectangle. I had to tear and stretch some of the triangles to get them to fit on the pan, but since it’s later covered with a dense green topping, visual perfection isn’t necessary. I drizzled two tablespoons of olive oil over the dough and baked it for about fifteen minutes until it was slightly puffed and golden.
While it baked, I diced half of a large English cucumber and mashed three avocados. The avocados were extremely ripe and on sale for three-for-a-buck. I suspect my grocery store was trying to get rid of them, which worked out perfectly because like bananas, extra-ripe avocados are so much easier to mash, and are creamier and sweeter.
I used English cucumber because they’re seedless and have far less water compared to regular cucumbers. Because this mixture was going on top the flatbread, I didn’t use anything too watery for fear of making the bread soggy.
I squired a little lemon juice over the mixture, generously seasoned with chipotle seasoning, a pinch of salt and pepper, and stirred. Use any kind of spices you enjoy including cumin, garlic or onion powder, a favorite seasoning blend, or feel free to work in other diced vegetables like bell peppers, red onions, olives, corn, or cilantro. This is really just a variation on chunky guacamole.
After the flatbread emerged from the oven and cooled momentarily, I topped it with the avocado-cucumber mash, and sliced it using a pizza wheel.
Scott commented that he loved the flatbread dough, which was crescent roll dough, and liked it even better than the pizza dough. As I was arranging both types of dough on Silpats prior to baking, they looked very similar. I thought they may even be the same dough, but they’re not.
The crescent roll dough bakes up puffier, thicker, and according to Scott has better flavor. I did drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil on the crescent roll dough, which I’m sure helped the overall flavor, but this again proves that crescent roll dough can do no wrong.
I’ve made everything from Nutella Cinnamon Rolls to Cream Cheese and Jelly Danish and now savory flatbreads. I love it so much because it’s so versatile and can go either sweet or savory.
I made the pizza using Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust. I stretched the dough over a standard-sized cookie sheet lined with a Silpat, covered it with red pasta sauce, and topped it with shredded mozzarella. The fifty yard line is meatless gluten-free sausage and the other yard lines are mini pepperoni. As I was laying out all those mini pepperonis I was thinking about all the body spray I was going to treat myself with at the mall.
I baked the football field for about eighteen minutes until it was just browned. If baking these two recipes on the same day, note that crescent roll dough bakes at 350F and pizza dough bakes at 400F.
My family loved both the pizza and the flatbread. My almost six-year old told me it was the best thing I’ve ever made. She said that two weeks ago with these and these.
Most days my husband is a slightly more credible source than she is, and the whole thing received very high marks from him, too.
The pizza was gooey, cheesy, and the dough was soft and supple. It reminds me of deep-dish pizza dough without actually creating a deep-dish pizza. There’s the option to prebake the crust for about 10 minutes, then top it with sauce, cheese, and toppings, which will yield a crispier crust, but I really didn’t want to bother.
Plus, Scott’s a native Chicago guy and you can take the boy out of the city and move him to California but can’t take the love of deep-dish out of the boy.
Although he eats guacamole and avocado, he’s not generally the fiend that I am. If this was served at a football party, it would be the first thing I’d go for. Both he and Skylar gobbled up the flatbread and I’ve already been asked to remake it. The last time I got asked for a recipe remake before the dishes were even done on the item at-hand were these.
The cooling, creamy avocado with the crunchy cucumbers, balanced with slight kick from the chipotle seasoning, was a nice accompaniment to the pizza. In addition to loving the flatbread dough itself, he remarked that food like this leaves you full and satisfied without being stuffed because green things just don’t do that to you. I agree.
Based on ease and minimal time investment of a half hour, the oohs and ahhs, and brownie points I scored with my family, homemade pizza is going into rotation more frequently around here.
I mean, who can resist eating your way down to the twenty yard line.
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Pepperoni Pizza and Chipotle Avocado Cucumber Flatbreads
Ingredients
Pepperoni Pizza
- 1 can Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust
- ⅔ cup red pasta sauce, tomato sauce, or pizza sauce
- 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 8 meatless meatballs or favorite sausage or meatballs
- ½ cup mini pepperoni
Chipotle Avocado Cucumber Flatbreads
- 1 can Pillsbury Big ‘N Flaky Crescent Rolls
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 ripe avocados, mashed
- 1 ¾ cups English cucumber, diced (half of a large cucumber)
- ½ cup diced vegetables, optional (bell peppers, red onion, olives, corn, or another favorite)
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon chipotle seasoning, or to taste (or a seasoning blend such as Mrs. Dash or Trader Joe's 21 Salute)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Pepperoni Pizza - Preheat oven to 400F. Open can of pizza dough and unroll it onto a Silpat- lined or greased baking sheet or pizza stone. Press out dough into approximately a 15-by-10-inch rectangle. Spread red sauce over dough, leaving 1/2-inch margins near the edges bare. Top with cheese. Arrange meatballs in a vertical row going down center of pizza. Create four vertical rows of pepperoni on both sides of the sausage, for a total of 8 vertical and parallel rows. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until bubbly and golden. Serve immediately.
- Chipotle Avocado Cucumber Flatbreads - Preheat oven to 350F (note this is cooler than pizza-baking temperature). Open can of crescent rolls and unroll them onto a Silpat- lined or greased baking sheet. Arrange dough end-to-end to form one large rectangle, approximately 15-by-10-inches. It's okay if you have to tear or break a couple triangles in order to achieve one large piece of dough to fill the baking sheet; just pinch the seams together. Drizzle with olive oil and rub it over the entire surface using your fingertips. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until slightly puffed and golden brown.
- While the bread bakes, peel, pit, and mash 3 avocados (I prefer retaining chunkiness and texture and don't over-mash), placing the flesh into a medium bowl. Note that because avocado discolors and oxidizes after exposed to air, don't assemble the flatbread until right before serving it; however, pre-baking the dough a few hours in advance and having it ready to go and waiting to be topped is fine.
- Add the cucumber, optional vegetables (I didn't include any of the optional suggestions), lemon juice, chipotle seasoning, salt, pepper, and stir to combine. Allow bread to cool for a few minutes before spreading mixture over the top. Slice into about 10 long strips, about 2-inches wide (or slice into triangles, squares, or other preferred shape) and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I partnered with Pillsbury through DailyBuzz to help promote their Crescent Roll and Pizza Crust products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Pillsbury for the opportunity to create a Snackadium.
What do you like on your pizza? Any favorite tailgating or game day recipes?
Do you have creative recipes using crescent rolls, premade dough, or a favorite pizza dough recipe?
Feel free to link your favorites because I’ve never met a shortcut that I didn’t like.
I could just dive right into that pizza! Pepperoni pizza is something I haven’t made in a while. Last night I made chicken, bacon and sriracha ranch. Also, a breakfast pizza with fried eggs and pesto! I’m wishing I had done pepperoni now though :P